JustSystems, developer of the Japanese word processor software called Ichitaro, recently announced a vulnerability (CVE-2013-3644) that has been exploited in the wild. Symantec has seen the exploitation being used in targeted attacks since May, but it…
The title of this blog post may make you think that we will discuss the security of your Facebook account. Not this time. However, I will analyze an attack which starts with a suspicious email sent to the victim’s email account. The incoming email has the following subject, ‘Hey <name> your Facebook account has been […]
For sports fans, the most exciting time of the year is the post season. It is when the underdogs have a chance to topple the better teams in the league, or last year’s champions are trying to win it again. Depending on the sport, these events can draw a lot of viewers, whether it is a single event or a seven game series. So, its no surprise there are sites that claim to offer fans the ability to watch these events online.
Right now, we are in the midst of the NBA finals pitting some of the finest players in the league against each other in their quest to win it all. The series was just tied 2-2 before Game 5 on Sunday. On that day, some Facebook users may have seen pages offering a free live stream of the game.
Figure 1. Free live NBA Finals stream posted on Facebook
Facebook users may also see posts about NBA Finals live streams linking to a page hosted on Tumblr.
Figure 2. Free live NBA Finals stream page on Tumblr
When a user selects “YES I AGREE” on the Tumblr page they are redirected back to Facebook and asked to install an NBAFinals Facebook application.
Figure 3. Scam NBAFinals Facebook app, permissions request
This Facebook application requests access to your profile, friends list, and email address. If a user grants permission, the application will request more permissions.
Figure 4. Scam NBAFinals Facebook app requests additional permissions
In addition to posting to your friends on your behalf, the scam Facebook application requests more permissions that do not make any sense for an application to have in order to enjoy free live streaming, such as access to manage your Facebook pages.
Even worse, after the application installs, users are redirected to another Tumblr site and asked to spread the scam on Facebook before proceeding.
Figure 5. Scam NBA Finals site asks users to share on Facebook
Figure 6. NBA Finals scam spreads on Facebook
For the user, after all this, there is no live stream presented. Instead, users will see a video player that doesn’t work. Clicks on the video player redirects users to a plugin install page that earns the scammers money through affiliate links.
Figure 7. NBA Finals scam page contains no live stream
There are some references in the final page to other sites that claim to offer live streams of the game. These pages are not official however, and these types of streaming sites are prohibited.
For the scammers, getting the user to install their Facebook application keeps the scam going because the application posts messages to your timeline on your behalf.
Figure 8. Scam NBAFinals app timeline post on Facebook
In cooperation with Symantec, Tumblr has removed the sites associated with this scam and we have reported the application to Facebook.
Users should be aware which applications they install on Facebook, especially when looking for special features or access to websites that offer live sport streams. If it seems suspicious, most likely it is.
Hospitality is the friendly bonding between the guest and host, especially efforts to make the guest feel comfortable. Spammers exploit hospitality events, and the bond between guest and host, with fake promotional offers. We are currently observing an increase in spam messages which exploit hospitality offered by major events, festivals, and concerts. The spam messages invite users to watch the events at entertaining venues happening in different places. Hospitality spam tries to entice users with bogus offers such as the following:
Figure 1. British Grand Prix hospitality spam
Figure 2. Ashes Series hospitality spam
A variety of subject lines have been observed in the hospitality spam attacks, such as the following:
The “From” address associated with these hospitality spam emails include the following:
The main motive of these spam campaigns is to lure recipients by providing fake promotional offers and asking users to reply with questions about the event to the spam domain which is only registered for a year and hosted in the United Kingdom.
Symantec advises our readers to use caution when receiving unsolicited or unexpected emails. We are closely monitoring these spam attacks to ensure that users are kept up to date with information on the latest threats.
Kids call them “selfies” while parents (likely) call them “image overkill.” A “selfie” is simply a photo that teens (mostly girls) take of themselves while holding the mobile camera at arms length. They often come in floods online—sometimes dozens a day depending on a teen’s exuberance. Posting photos is nothing new, however, selfies are exploding Read more…
If you had the privilege to meet Android:Obad, which Kaspersky earlier reported to be the “most sophisticated android malware,” you are in a real bad situation and this will probably be the moment to which you’ll be referring to in the future as “The time I learned the hard way what better-safe-than-sorry means.” A few […]
AVAST welcomes all secure.me users to our blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed, where you can learn the latest about social media privacy from your favorite secure.me team members. In the coming weeks, secure.me will be fully integrated into AVAST and even get a new name, but you will still enjoy the safe and carefree […]
Does your organization prioritize mobile security? According to recent news, even the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is concerned about mobile security and the ability to securely transfer information between mobile devices. This is no small task for the DOD: according to the American Forces Press Service, the DOD has over 600,000 commercial mobile devices Read more…
You know just what a boon SSL can be to your business when it comes to keeping your transactions safe, ensuring that your sensitive information – such as credit card numbers, social security numbers and login credentials – is transmitted se…
Recently, a story ran in CNNMoney.com about the cyberattack experience of a small online retailer. Not only was their site victimized once, but twice in the span of four years. Over 1,000 dollars later, the owners were able to get back on their feet, but many other small businesses won’t be so lucky. Today, cyberattacks Read more…